Family History

Contributing to and learning about my family history last night was a really good experience. I wrote in a couple different journals and did some research online, and I began to experience some emotional healing and felt more connected to my ancestors. 

Today, I had a thought: Could working on my family history be a good vehicle for developing the skills I want? I identified a particular ancestor that I want to pursue, and no one who's published online seems to have any more information than I have, so that means that I'll have to get my hands dirty and do some actual research. I'm taking a British Family History class next semester which should help. I mean, I'm looking for a man with the surname Daines whose trail ends in England in the 1600s - his ancestors must have come from Denmark at some point, right? 

Hardcore researching is something I haven't done in my undergraduate experience; due to my procrastinating nature, any researching opportunities I had in classes were wasted and I only submitted quick, sub-par work. Long-term research on a meaningful project would do a lot of good things for me. Many times I've given up on long projects because I lost interest or focus or discipline, and didn't know how to progress. With family history, there are hundreds of dead-ends that probably just need some extra help (which is more readily available with technology), lots of ways to poke around for information, and many, many people who are also involved in research. 

Also, some useful classes I'm thinking about taking: editing, Danish language, sewing, family history. We'll see how it goes.